Jets didn't want to let Rex down

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - This time, Rex Ryan didn't want all eyes to be on him.

Often too verbose and brash for his own good, the Jets coach shied away from the spotlight Monday afternoon, refusing to take any credit for his team's passionate play against the Steelers on Sunday. But the truth is, it was not just his in-game coaching but his words - uttered the day before - that provided an emotional lift during the Jets' 22-17 win in blustery, snowy Pittsburgh.

"That's overblown, I'm sure," Ryan said, his face surprisingly serious. "I'm just an average person that speaks from the heart. It's really more about our players and how they played. They challenged each other. They are committed to each other. I think that's what you saw from the team. It wasn't anything I said."

As was reported in Monday's Newsday, Ryan - on the verge of tears - delivered an impassioned speech to his players the night before their showdown with the Steelers. He implored them to play like Jets: to be physical, to be confident, to be prideful. In doing so, he also called out his defense and offensive line - a move several players agreed was necessary.

"You've got a guy standing in front of you pouring his heart out," linebacker Calvin Pace said. "You see the disappointment that he has in us just because he believes so much in us . . . He was basically saying that stuff we had done up until this point, even the nine wins, just wasn't good enough. So I think guys took that and went out there and won the game, obviously for the franchise and what we're trying to do, but for him."

As was the case after Ryan's previous teary-eyed lecture - delivered just before the Jets' surprising playoff push last season - his team responded, stifling the Steelers in the fourth quarter.

D'Brickashaw Ferguson said he and the rest of the offensive linemen weren't taken aback by Ryan's comments.

"You have the option to rise to it or fall," the left tackle said. "And as you had an opportunity to see on Sunday, we stepped up, we answered the call, and we hope to continue to answer the call throughout the season."

Ryan said his words are never scripted. "You just speak from the heart each week," he said. "Whatever happens happens."

Veteran fullback Tony Richardson likened Ryan to a father figure, a man he and his teammates never want to disappoint.

"Sometimes your dad believes in you more than the kid does," Richardson said. "And I think that's really what Rex's message was: 'You know what, guys? I've been saying all along that we have a good football team, but when are we going to realize it? When are you guys going to play like I know you're capable of?' "

Hardly anyone inside the visitors' locker room at Heinz Field spoke before the game. They were too focused on the task at hand, Richardson said.

"We feel like when we don't play well, we let Rex down," he said. "With Rex standing up there and telling us how he really feels about us and what we're capable of doing, it makes you feel good, it makes you feel confident, because someone has that type of trust and belief in you. And we just went out and executed."